Coppers

Slabbing became popular here in the US because of the tendency of many of our dealers to overgrade and the inability of many collectors to figure out the grade for themselves. Now because a supposedly neutral slabbing service assigns the grade to coins, collectors seem all too willing to believe its opinion over their own eyes. The entire situation reminds me of a Hans Christian Anderson story called the Emperor's New Clothes.

Jon....I've been collecting British coins since the late 1990s. It's a welcome change from what I see here in the US, where the prevailing view is that there are 11 grades of mint state and that, for example, an MS 66 is worth many multiples of the same variety designated an MS 65. Thank goodness the collectors and dealers in the UK appear to have more sense than we do in this regard.

Jon...here's where having a copy of Peck would come in handy.... Date/Denomination/Peck No. 1857 Penny P1968 1857 Halfpenny P1973 1857 Five Cents P1974 1857 Two Cents P1975 1857 One Cent P1976 1857 Halfpenny P1977 1857 Farthing P1978 1859/7 Penny P1980 1859 Halfpenny P1981 1859 Penny P1994 1859 Halfpenny P2000 ------ Halfpenny P2002 ------ One Cent P2005 1859 Penny? P2013 1859 Halfpenny? P2020 1859 Penny? P2020 1859 Farthing P2023 1859 Twopence P2029 1859 Penny P2031 1859 Penny P2034 1859 Penny P2035 1859 Halfpenny P2036 1859 Halfpenny P2037

I wish I knew with any certainty. In terms of £, I'd say between 700 and 1500. That's quite costly for just one coin, but on the other hand it is a very limited series and it's not often that more than one or two of them come up for sale in a given year.

JMD...No 1860s. It does include a number of pennies and patterns that are presumed to be pennies. This was a period of experimention with potential candidates for a decimal coinage and as I recall the reverse of one of these patterns bears a remarkable resemblance to that of the contemporarary US one cent. Jon...No 1841 silver proofs..never had any interest in either the silver or gold coinage of the period. I do recall examples of an 1841 copper proof penny coming up for auction from time to time.

Jon -- yes I do copper coins -- primarily pre-1860 Victoria copper patterns.

Very nice collection Jon! Will you expand the range of dates you collect once it is completed or move on to other denominations?

Jon... You certainly found what has to be the most unusual and at the moment undervalued British coin auction on ebay. Hopefully we'll soon be seeing these farthings offered (one at a time) on Chris' website. How is your halfpenny collection progressing? How many and which dates do you still need to complete it?

2007! Here in your former colonies we have only to wait another six months or so. Forgive my ignorance of British politics and law, but does the concept of "term limits" apply? In other words, is there any limit to the number of years or terms that Blair can hold the position of Prime Minister?

When exactly is the next general election in the UK?

Chis...for those of us who do not reside in the UK -- what is a shell suit and what kind of establishment is Lidl?

I am only surprised that there is no reserve.... Rare British Penny

Strong leaders consult. They listen to advice and aren't afraid to take it. Margaret Thatcher did none of these things, which fact severely compromises the claim that she was a strong leader, as opposed to one determined to impose an ideology come what may. Thatcher wasn't quite Reagan's poodle as Blair is Dubya's but she came pretty close. Who was happy to allow American nuclear weapons to be based in the UK? Who was prime minister when the number of US military installations in the UK was in triple figures? Which European prime minister not only endorsed the US attacks on Tripoli in 1986 but allowed their warplanes to take off from her own country's bases? Granted she opposed the invasion of Grenada, a Commonwealth country, where Blair might have said "walk right in", but in most respects when it came to playing good guys/bad guys US-style she made Rumsfeld and Co. look like a bunch of pacifists. Short-sighted Americans are trying to claim that Reagan single-handedly brought about the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. Margaret Thatcher is on record as saying that she did it. She made greed, materialism and self-centeredness respectable again. She became power-drunk on her own hubristic belief that she was infallible. Blair is equally consumed by hubris, but compounds the fault by turning on the charm and trying to convince us he's a nice guy. At least Margaret Thatcher's one redeeming feature is that she knew she couldn't get away with that trick. "Greed, materialism and self-centeredness respectable again"? Sounds like a fitting description of the last coin fair I attended. I am not among President Reagan's admirers, but as I recall the attack on Tripoli was not without cause.

No question about it -- this is the best forum/discussion group on British coins that I've found on the web.

Chris...did you acquire any new coins while in London?

Is the London Coin Fair the largest of its kind in Great Britain or are there others that rival it?

Jon...you likely cannot see the George III coins because... "SOME OF THE COINS ARE NOT IN THE PICS, THE CAMERA LET ME DOWN, THERE IS OVER 30. IV DONE MY BEST TO GIVE YOU A DISCRIPTION OF THE COINS, BUT IM NOT AN EXPERT, SO PLEASE LOOK AT THE PICS AND JUDGE FOR YOURSELVES."

Returning to the subject of ebay, here's an intriguing "COLLECTION OF RARE ENGLISH COINS FROM GEORGE 111"... George III

Congratulations on the new additions to your halfpenny collection and thank you so very much for your report on the London Coin Fair. For those of us who cannot attend, it was the next best thing to being there.

For those of you who will be attending the London Coin Fair tomorrow -- would you post a report of your visit there for the rest of us?

An excerpt from an earlier auction from the same seller... My relative stared the 1937-d and wrote "3 legs" I looked at it because I have heard of the coin before and It looks real,, I am not a coin expert Im just selling these coins how they are so I can not guarantee that it is real,, But I am assuming it is... ...and here the positive feedback he later received on it! as described,said 1937d threelegged might not be real ,it was not .

Jon...there are quite a few counterfeit bust dollars for sale on ebay, many of which originated in the orient. This is likely one of them.

It's not a British coin, but I thought some of you might find this of interest in view of wybrit's recent post.... Ebay listing

Here's yet another -- although in spite of the grade assigned I don't think it is as nice as the one Dragonbrit is offering... Another 1869 Penny

Now I know why this this thread appears under the "free for all" category. Returning to the subject of ebay, is the UK version of ebay distinct from the one we have here in the US and if so, does the quantity and/or quality of British coins offered there differ significantly?